


Black Kites

by bottlecider



Category: Dreamcatcher (Korea Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Space, Blood and Violence, Eventual Romance, Everyone Needs A Hug, F/F, Rivalry, Science Fiction, Space Pirates, bora most wanted, dubious morals they're pirates, jibo scarred best friends, minji obsessed with planet earth, siyeon needs flirting classes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-22
Updated: 2020-11-22
Packaged: 2021-03-09 23:01:41
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,440
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27663751
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bottlecider/pseuds/bottlecider
Summary: Or, the suppression of the erstwhile captain of fire.800 million units for stealing a simple piece jewelry. Bora considered it done, one raid away from being rich, certainly not considering that she wasn't the only notorious intergalactic ravager with eyes on the same target.
Relationships: Kim Bora | SuA/Lee Siyeon
Comments: 13
Kudos: 41
Collections: DreamCatcher Pirate Ficfest 2k20





	Black Kites

**Author's Note:**

> This story contains explicit language sometimes, blood and violence. Do not read (or skip the fight scenes) if this makes you uncomfortable, please. Thank you!
> 
> Back on my sci-fi shit again. I'm nervous but excited to post this because this is my first ever completely finished story. I hope you like it kk

“Mind like a steel trap, heart like a prison

With tears of rage, we burn in our red vision

Once again, I'll walk the coals

Tiptoe through the minefields of your soul

I've come to take you home”

-Red Vision, by Pat Benatar

_**Verr, Zerth Q8** _

**Quadrant 3a**

The aerial view of an insignificant planet never looked as satisfying as this, Bora felt. Maybe because she could already feel the metal and power of 800 million units between her fingertips.

“We’re going down.”

“Sugar?”

“...I really can’t with your references to songs from a planet that hasn’t existed for about a thousand years. Will you ever stop?” Bora chuckled and shook her head while smiling, eyes sharp focused on the surface of their target destination. Her hands gripped the ship’s manual controls, grading the speed and direction as the planet in sight’s gravity began to attract the space vehicle little by little.

“Never, you know this.” Minji laughed a bit and typed some stuff on the holographic control panel, preparing the ship for landing. “Ready?”

They exchanged a look, as if they were reassuring each other, but also acknowledging their confidence in their streak of success. “Always.” They both gave each other a side smile before piloting the ship closer to the planet’s surface. As their muscles tensed and their backs continued pressing onto the backs of their seats, they kept their eyes on the landing zone, but occasionally stole glimpses of the red and orange veil of heat that surrounded the beak of Bora’s ‘Firehawk’; she always thought the visual manifestation of the atmosphere breach complemented her ship’s deep black and red, as if the chemicals and physics ended up complying to her wishes.

They landed at a small valley next to a big city, one built majorly with black bricks and an array of neon signs interrupting bold solid tints; Zerth Q8, planet of sophistication and culture, Verr, city of fools. At least, that’s how Bora baptized them after _‘the easiest heists she had ever done’._ The place was inhabited by a bunch of people who trusted their security a little bit too much, while harboring some of the best artisans and average wealth in the whole quadrant, and that was an advantage Bora would not let slip away.

As she walked into the streets of the city, she smirked while thinking about her target, and the 800 million units that came with it. “Easy, easy money.” A satisfied chuckle and a brisk pace… another raid, simple, _these fools won’t even see it coming. A few minutes from being rich!_

Since she had been to Verr before, the streets weren’t entirely foreign. Instead of looking for directions, she focused on spotting the positions of every guard or troop there was, so she could maintain stealth and complete her mission quickly. As expected, there were none, until she got to the target building’s gate. The home of the Heirloom, as everyone called a centuries old necklace that, for some reason, had acquired immense value the last couple of years. Bora, and surely all the other ravagers that were currently looking for it, didn’t really know why it had such a high demand nor price amongst collectors, specifically ones from the black market. Maybe it was a weapon, maybe it held the last whispers of an already extinct civilization and a mad anthropologist was willing to surrender their whole life insurance for it, maybe it was usable as bait or hostage… but it didn’t matter to the bearers of the dirty work. To ravagers, the only thing that matters is the amount of units they’re receiving for it. In this particular case, it was a whole lot.

“Alright,” she grabbed her gun and breathed deep, “let’s do this, 800 million units.” A devilish smile crept onto her mouth while her finger tightened against the trigger, eyes tinted by hunger for money, but it faded as she saw a woman leaning against a wall close to the gate.

They locked eyes for a second.

 _Is the civilian casualty worth it this time…_ Bora weighted her options in her head, gripping her gun harder and quickly ideating how she will shoot her and deal with the guards immediately. Though, the woman cut her planning time short; she charged towards the two watchmen. Bora barely had time to react before the woman struck a bullet through one of the guards’ foreheads, then came the sound of a long silver blade cutting through the armor, flesh and guts as she stole the life of the other. All in a matter of seconds. The ravager then pointed directly at the woman and shot, but the latter raised the stabbed man’s body and used it as a shield. “Hey!”

The woman dropped the man without regard and ran towards an alleyway, crouching forward with every shot of Bora’s gun. The ravager followed her, her boots splashing over the vestiges of murder and potentially dirtying her leather cloak with blood on the way. _Are you kidding me…_ She thought as she saw how her target jumped to grab metal stairs, climb up as if she were a lizard, and jump to a balcony of the building the Heirloom was in. Bora followed every step with all her energy and speed, almost mirroring the other woman’s every move, with the fuel of anger. Their boots struck loud against every surface, until they broke into the building. Then, eerie silence.

Bora walked tense and careful to avoid sound, being extra aware of her surroundings as she headed towards where the Heirloom was in. _Steady, steady... where are you?_ She asked in her head, seconds before she heard a cluster of aggressive steps coming towards her.

Next thing she knew, she was pushed face front against a bookshelf while the other woman tried to snatch her gun away. Yet, Bora swung her elbow back and hit the attacker close to the stomach, earning an ‘oof’ and separation. The latter didn’t wait at all before aiming a hook, but Bora managed to block it with her forearm. For some reason, the action made the stranger smirk, which angered Bora even more. They continued to fight, prompting a sequence that roughly seemed like combat choreography, since they were both able to block each other’s attacks with uncanny ease… until several guards showed up and started shooting at both of them, which made them separate again to deal with the new hostile targets. As soon as they killed the last one, Siyeon pushed Bora against the wall again, although they were facing each other this time.

A pause. Siyeon looked into her eyes, then up and down, raised an eyebrow and let out a chuckle. The sudden display of amusement didn’t make Bora’s stoic face expression fade, eyes tense with anger as she pressed the cannon of her gun against Siyeon’s gut.

"Get the fuck off me."

"Are you sure?" Siyeon lets out a side smile.

Bora forcefully pushed Siyeon aside and shot a guard that was pointing his gun at them. Then, she pointed her gun at Siyeon, both starting to slowly walk in circles while looking at each other. "Who are you?"

"Who are you?" Siyeon responded, emphasizing the "you" instead of "are", before rapidly kicking the gun out of Bora's hand. Before Bora could reach it, Siyeon ran and made Bora trip with her feet. In response to the sudden multitude of steps heard going up the stairs, Siyeon fled the scene in search of the Heirloom, and, as if it were planned, Bora rushed to grab her gun and follow her.

Eventually, they didn't find the Heirloom, and the immediate dangers were too high to keep looking, so they both rushed out of the building with empty hands. Bora was trying to run after Siyeon again, but the latter had created a big distance between them. When she managed to get into the alleyway Siyeon disappeared into, there was no sign of her. Still annoyed, still angry, she made her way to the Firehawk. Almost forgetting to pick up a flower on the way, her routine after every raid; a black plant she had never seen before, it seemed nice and mysterious, and it would look good accompanying her and Minji.

* * *

"What happened down there? Not fools anymore?" Minji asked when they're already too far away to be followed.

"Do you know a ravager that has long black hair with some blue? A woman, close to your height. Uses both a blade and a handgun. Can you search?"

"Maybe you mean blue wolf, I think that's her name. Wait, Siyeon... Yes, real name, Siyeon." She doesn’t even search.

"Who is she and why is she after the Heirloom?"

"The same reason you are. She's well known amongst the ravagers, Bora. She was the one behind the Yallenus 9N raid. And the killing of Arthike's dictator… I'm surprised you don't know her. You thought you were the one and only-"

"Shut up Minji. What do we know about her? Show me background." Minji typed fast to search for her records, having to put some effort because the cloud didn’t show explicit results. When she found a profile, it had a blurry photo; you could barely make out Siyeon’s face. 'Blue Wolf', it read, but there was barely any information. "Seems like she likes the incognito… but what I know is Yallenus 9N raid, Arthike's mess… she has a reputation of leaving behind messy crime scenes, but somehow never leaves traces of her identity. Steals for fun… She's good."

"I am good!" Bora crossed her arms and emphasized the 'I'. It felt like her intergalactic top ravager reputation, which she thought was exclusive to her, plummeted after her first failed raid in a long time. "I steal for fun…"

"Well I guess you've got some competition."

"We're not the same."

"True, she might be better." Minji tried to suppress a laughter as she counted 3, 2 ,1, expecting Bora's prideful retaliation.

Right on time; "Sure. She'll see. I'll get the Heirloom. And I'll get those 800 million units and hack the damn cloud so she knows I have them." Bora stood up and stomped away from the flight deck, taking the black flower with her.

Minji watched with an open mouth, close to a smile, and laughed. She hadn't seen such determination in her crewmate for a while now.

* * *

After the Verr incident, Bora couldn’t let herself fail again; too much exposure and commotion caused by the mess left at that building caught the attention of Annova, a high rank intergalactic security force. Or, much better described by her, _a bunch of frustrated engineers and mediocre cowards that group to obsess over ravagers with higher skills than them._ She needed to move fast, and incorporate new weapons and tactics to make the job as free of complications as possible, too. Maybe a new assault rifle would come in handy, aside from control over Verr’s security grid and troop information; all things she could find at Harper’s. As always, paying for all of them was never an option.

She kicked open the door and walked in the room, but the commotion didn’t faze the man tightening the screws of a rusty plasma blaster.

“Oh, Kim Bora, it has been a long time since we’ve seen each other, hasn’t it?” The man stood up from his working table, smirking. “Alone? Where is all your crew?”

She internally grimaced. “Cut it. I’m looking for an N7 Valkyrie.”

“Interesting choice for such a handgun woman.”

“I have to widen my skill set, it’s been a while.” Bora forced a smile and waited for him to walk into the storage room, then started scanning her surroundings for objects and sellable items to steal.

He came back with the assault rifle and Bora’s smile returned. “Hope you have the biceps for this bad girl.” He joked, while Bora tried to keep her smile, clenching her jaw and feeling her back molars grind. He placed the rifle on the table to make sure it didn’t need any readjustments.

“Do you still work with disabling security for breaches?”

“Oh, yeah.” He started talking with his back facing Bora. “Though I’m taking it easy on high maintenance bases. Annova’s been on my ass lately.” He turned around after chuckling, but his face morphed into seriousness in an instant. “I guess you did bring friends…” He took his handgun out and tilted his head, targeting Bora. “Thank you for your honesty, should’ve known.”

Bora took out her gun as well. “I don’t know what you’re insinuating, but you better watch your tone.” She wanted to look back, but the focus on not losing sight of the threat didn’t leave space for it.

He reached down to press a button, to call for backup, before cocking his gun and flexing his finger on the trigger. None of it went unnoticed by the ravager. “Put the gun down. Both of you. Or i’ll just-”

“Alright, you may be hallucinating, Harper. I can help you with that.” Before he could respond, she pulled the trigger, and an unforgiving bullet invaded his brain through his eye. It made him immediately fall back and hit the ground with a red ravine beginning to paint the floor. She waited a second before she turned around in an immediate offensive stance, finding the barrel of Siyeon’s heavy blaster pistol already aligning with her vision (her blade attached to the wrist of her other arm, upwards, paralleling her limb this time). “What…” The grip around her gun got tighter, as well as the tension in her jaw. “...are you doing here?”

“Same thing as you. Business.” She tilted the gun and raised her shoulders nonchalantly.

“I doubt it. Go away or the same thing that happened back in Verr will happen again,” Bora walked backwards towards the table and grabbed the assault rifle she asked Harper for, “he called for back-up.”

“What, are you scared now?”

“I am angry that you’re making me waste time, and that you made me kill a fucking acclaimed black market dealer.” _It’s a matter of time before his buyers start to track who did it._

“I didn’t force you to do anything. Free guns, I guess.”

“Are you dumb, or do you pretend?” She moved around the room and stole chips, and other sellable stuff, later putting it all in her bag. “Move.” Bora walked past Siyeon to reach the door, her gun never ceasing to point at the taller woman’s face.

Siyeon just walked over to the dealer’s desk with unbothered steps and typed some stuff in the computer, as Bora tried to open the door. A chip got ejected from the machine, Siyeon took it and casually walked into the elevator. “Psst,” She called out, making Bora look at her before she ran out the building, “I pretend.” She stuck out her tongue while holding the chip between two fingers, later bringing them up to her forehead and doing a salute gesture as the elevator’s doors closed.

Bora scoffed. _Cyberwarfare… son of a…_ As she fled the scene, she was tempted to hit her own head for not thinking about stealing the security grid information, and who knows what more did Siyeon put in there, before all the trinkets she focused on. Now she was at a disadvantage; definitely not something Bora was used to. It was infuriating.

* * *

It turns out that Annova proceeded to move the Heirloom to a planet close to their space bases, so the trip back to Verr was useless. In fact, every raid Bora attempted recently ended up being useless, since she now had an irritating shadow that appeared to track her every move, able to mimic every step. They essentially cancelled each other out, and she appeared everywhere, without reason.

Now Bora sat at a bar, gripping a beer glass tankard with an enraged fist, purposefully remembering their encounters to feed her irk and be able to rage drink.

> _"Why aren't you looking for stuff a few jumps away, sticking your nose on someone else’s job?!" Bora reprised as they both hid from an erupted shootout. “Do you even know what this is?!” She lifted the yellow batteries she just snatched away from Siyeon._
> 
> _“Of course I know. Why else would I be here…”_
> 
> _“Well, the way you almost let it fall every time you rounded a corner tells me otherwise. This... is mine.” Bora ran with the bunch of batteries, still dodging bullets and plasma blasts, but Siyeon followed and tackled her, sending all of them flying._

Thanks to their dueling, they had to escape with their hands empty again. Not only that time. Several. And it only seemed to be getting worse.

Bora tilted her head back to chug the last bit of beer left, slammed the tankard against the bar, and gestured to the bartender to pour more.

“Wouldn't have guessed you were the alcoholic type.”

That voice… Bora turned around, rolled her eyes and groaned.

"You look different without pointing your N7 Eagle at my face." Siyeon sat on the stool beside her. “You love stealing from the Alliance don’t you?”

"I can take you back to our first encounter if you desire." Bora said sarcastically, tossing back the side of her long cloak to reveal the gun, without looking at Siyeon.

Siyeon chuckled and ordered a drink. "So I finally get to meet the notorious Kim Bora."

"Thank you for the ego boost, I know the streets talk about me all the time."

"Don't flatter yourself." Siyeon took a sip of her drink and made a face of disgust. "At one point in my life I had access to Annova's database, and you happened to be there. The ravager with the highest ‘wanted’ set bounty price, dead or alive. Though years without being captured. I'm impressed." Siyeon crossed her arms and looked at Bora with a closed mouth smile.

"Don't tell me you're one of those renegade Annova troops…" Bora snickered.

Siyeon exhaled into an amused face expression, at the assumption she has gotten accustomed to over the years. "Not quite." She brought her drink back to her lips as her eyes scanned the premises, looking for easy objects she could take with her.

Bora then chugged the rest of her newly served drink, and broke the silence. "Why are you suddenly barging in all my raids?" Annoyance, annoyance... "I'm gonna ask you to refrain from doing that, respect my space, look for bounty somewhere else."

Siyeon raised her eyebrows and smiled, letting out an airy chuckle. "Not used to the competition?"

"Tch." Bora, offended, mimicked Siyeon’s expression, but failed to conceal the sarcasm and bile dripping from her attempted smile. "Back off, before I take matters seriously." She grabbed her gun and put it on the bar.

"You're not the only one with the skills." Siyeon got a hold of the long silver colored blade strapped to her hip and brought it out, then positioned the sharp end centimeters away from Bora's throat. "It's not my fault I'm the only one good at hiding."

Anger still scurried out of Bora’s pores, but she decided to pull her hand away from the gun. Siyeon broke her offensive stance, retrieved the blade, and relaxed back on the stool.

Silence, again, and probably as much shame as frustration. Bora grabbed her gun and stood up, starting to head out.

"You know, we could work together. 400 million units isn't half bad."

Bora stopped on her tracks and her grip on her gun tightened. She thought about it for a second, the offer promising for the current hunt; _we could get over with it in a blink. I’d get rid of her as an obstacle._ The odds of success were big. But her mind, her history, the familiar blood on her hands… it clawed at the back of her mind. _No,_ she made a promise to herself. She shook her head slightly and regained her composure, speaking up with the strongest and most blunt tone she could muster; “I work alone.” And she walked out of the bar.

It may have gone unnoticed by the ravager, but as soon as Bora turned around, Siyeon groaned low, crossed her arms on top of the bar and rested her head on them. The bartender, who caught parts of their conversation, went over and let out a mocking laugh as she wiped a glass cup.

“Wheein, can you not?” Siyeon’s voice was muffled, she still kept her forehead on top of her arms.

“I’m attracted to you, so I’ll slash open your throat. Like me back?” Wheein mocked and ended her statement with another laugh.

“Stooop…” Siyeon whined while finally raising her head, revealing a pout.

“Siyeon, you’re pathetic.”

“I’m embarrassed!” A sigh. “I swear I’ll just fly to the planet of nymphs and lay in the grass until I pass away and convert into compost.”

“Dear divinity, why are you so dramatic?” Wheein put down the glass and stood directly in front of the lone ravager.

“It’s embarrassing. She hates me.” She rested her elbows on the bar and crossed her arms again, looking away to some dancing consumers.

“Oh, for sure.” Siyeon’s instant glare sent Wheein over the edge of amusement. “To be fair, half of the universe hates both of you. See? Bonding material!”

“No, I will just disappear and do my own thing, as I used to. I don’t have to see her again.” Siyeon nodded, to which Wheein responded by shaking her head and sighing.

“Okay Siyeon.” The bartender tried not to crack up, but couldn’t help it at the sight of her friend pulling the outer edges of her eyes with her fingers.

* * *

Minji started the engines of the Firehawk a while after Bora got in, grasping a new flower for their collection. “Are you okay?” The older woman asked with the sweetest tone as Bora sat in the seat next to her and put on the seat belts.

“Yeah.” A staccato, sharp and short, enough to let Minji know she was lying but definitely didn’t want her to pry.

Minji looked down at the flower she brought this time; a blue species they hadn’t discovered yet. “That one’s so pretty.” She said, later focusing on piloting until they were able to stop and rest.

While the ship remained ‘static’, Bora stood up and walked over to the back of the common room, towards the place where they stored all the flowers she brought back from almost every raid. Minji followed, and watched as the shorter woman carefully planted the flower and put a glass cover over it. She noticed her strange face expression, too, so she decided to stare until Bora acknowledged her.

A sigh, acknowledged. “Siyeon was at the bar.”

“Ah… makes sense.” Minji nodded and finally left her crewmate alone. Ever since the Verr incident, Bora hadn’t stopped complaining about Siyeon and how _‘She follows me!’_.

“Prepare to go to Rhe-7. I’m gonna look for motherboards to steal.”

“Bora, you’re almost drunk.”

“When has that stopped me!” Bora tossed her arms in frustration.

“Well, I’m stopping you now. Get some rest.” Minji approached her and grabbed both of her crewmate’s arms, stabilizing her.

“...the motherboards.”

Minji didn’t budge.

Eventually, Bora was so tired that she fell asleep as Minji went around the room performing maintenance tasks, caring for all the plants, and listening to music all the way through. When she was done, she grabbed a water tank that held algae inside and brought it to the pilot seat. She sat down, loosely hugged the tank, feeling the coldness of the water against her forearms, and looked at the stars. Sigh and breath, they were confusing, virtually finite but endless… she wondered about how many of those stars she could see didn’t exist anymore. _Too far._ She thought, and grabbed the tank by its sides to hold it away from her, so she could see the algae. It brought out a smile, the green friend. When she put it on her thighs, she reached the record player and put on music again. It all felt like she was travelling in time for a moment, _it’s nice._ She looked back at the flower room, and then at Bora (currently knocked out on the common room’s floor), and sighed again. Her hand rested on the tank’s glass again, expecting the coldness to caress her palm, and her head moved along to a thousand year old song. She wondered what playing an instrument, or seeing someone do it, felt like.

It was a little comforting, the cold. _At least I can tell the difference between hot and cold,_ she thought, still moving her head along to the song, trying not to pay attention to the discomfort pooling around her sinus. Once again, she glanced over to Bora, paying attention to her current lack of awareness before she felt a dissident tear running down her cheek. And then another, and another, until a stifled weary wail, quiet but overpowering, slithered away from the deepest parts of her limbic depths. She tried to focus on the melody of the song, to distract herself from losing her last bit of composure to the barrenness of the stars; the ruthless void of space she had grown accustomed to observe, _too far._

After some minutes, once she delved into tranquility again, she sniffled a few times and took a deep breath. Then, she brought the water tank back to the flower room and placed it in its respective position. More work, preparations, Minji sensed the upcoming period of time was going to be full of ventures, judging from Bora’s most recent mood and behavior. She had known Bora for too long to not expect her escapism. And she was right.

The next days on the move were full of raids and ship ravaging, almost as if both of them were trying to hoard as much gadgets, food, and units as possible. _‘Isn’t that the usual anyway?’_ Bora kept saying, but Minji always thought her tone was a little strange. She rolled with it, anyway. In the span of a few weeks, everything seemed to go back to ‘normal’, back to when Bora’s still held her theft and pillaging success streak; as if what happened at Verr was just a bump on the road. That is, because Siyeon didn’t show up again, not even once. Minji thought it would finally make her crewmate stop complaining, but now those complaints just turned to endless mentions of the lone ravager: _‘Siyeon wasn’t there’, ‘I’m glad I was alone because Siyeon would’ve made me drop something’, ‘If she used her blade on that guard my coat would’ve gotten stained’, ‘At least I don’t have to keep my eye on two targets now’, ‘Oh man, that was almost too easy. What a relief, am I right? I’m the best, seriously. That dumbass.’_

If Minji hadn’t been Bora’s crewmate for an unspeakable amount of years already, she would’ve surely lost her patience. Really, she just found it extremely amusing.

* * *

A few days after their last robbery, they found themselves laying with their backs against the common room’s floor, staring at the ceiling as one of Minji’s thousand year old songs played in the background. They agreed to wait for new information about the Heirloom before they went on their next raid. For now, they rested.

“Who are these again?”

“Fleetwood Mac.” Minji replied, smiling at Bora’s interest.

“This song, I like.”

They fell into a comfortable silence, implicit smiles lingering. Minji always felt like this particular song made her feel nostalgic. To be fair, she spent a decent amount of her time entertaining herself with mementos. But this song in particular… reminded her of a lot of things she held close to her heart, one of them being the first ship she ever modified the engine of, which was also the first one she ever piloted.

"Ah, I miss flying the Pyroraptor."

"Fucking ravagers, am I right?" Bora laughed, Minji did too. After the laughter died down, Bora spoke up again. "I can't believe we got stolen. There's a code!"

"Bora, there's nothing in the 'code' that says ravagers can't steal from other ravagers. Plus, you don’t even follow the code."

"But my ships…" Bora faked a sob, and Minji laughed.

“Firehawk is a pretty big ship, though. It makes up for it, am I right?”

Bora’s face of delight drowned into nonexistence, replaced by a paralyzed expression and a pair of eyes stuck in time. In between mumbles, “too big for just the two of us,” low, shameful, deemed to be ignored and unnoticed, but Minji heard it.

Minji felt the same. But maybe not for the same reasons as Bora did. She knew her crewmate still dwelled. But she was good at hiding it sometimes; better than her, for sure. It made her curious. After a patch of silence, it was Minji's voice that broke it; "Don't you get… sometimes… a little lonely?" She sat up and focused on the black void of space, on the stars, again.

"I have you though." Bora sat up too, but focused on the stillness of the ship, and the woman beside her.

"That's not what I mean!" Minji exclaimed through a small smile and looked at Bora briefly.

Simultaneously, they both turn their heads back towards the glass, towards the void and stars, and maybe some planets and a ship cruising through. They think. Looking out to merge their pupils with the deep ink of infinity while being in a still spaceship wasn’t really a good idea; if you were trying to stay distracted, or mindless, or unaware, you just lost it.

And Bora was losing it.

"...yeah, I do." She spoke in a downward slope, shame returning to her features, eyes falling to the floor while threatening to dampen. The silence, the nothingness… -the mind- was too loud, now. She never let herself be in such a state where those specific memories would stream through her conscience as they pleased, like an uncontrollable broken record too out of reach to just destroy. But now she was there, with hoarded pain clouding her vision. She blinked, and single tears finally scurried through. Low, shameful, deemed to be ignored and unnoticed, but Minji heard it; “I’m sorry.”

In the midst of tensed eyebrows, eyes letting it all out, and the side hug Minji had just pulled her into, she let the memory play out without trying to restrain it.

> _“Captain!”_
> 
> _Bora’s vision instantly followed the plea, only to watch how an Annova troop shot several bullets through the back of the skull of her fellow crewmate and flight officer. After witnessing the whole sequence, she almost choked on air, not making an effort to control her heavy breathing. Her hands tightened around her dual N7 Eagles, not hesitating to pull the trigger not knowing how many times, activating continuous shots that stuttered every time she lowered pressure. She almost unintentionally emptied her whole cartridges on the troop’s body, still shooting even when the pool of their blood almost reached her own boots. Still feeling as if there wasn’t enough air, her lungs were rioting, fighting against the shock the whole imagery was inflicting on her._
> 
> _Her crew._
> 
> _She knew it was a bad idea, but she still insisted. She knew they were attempting a heist on a planet too close to a space base, but she insisted. Now half of them were gone, and the troops didn’t seem to plan to stop coming. With every five or six Annova casualties, new ships came, and they came out running like ants from a crushed anthill. She saw her crew running for their life, each hitting the ground one by one, and she felt powerless._
> 
> _With her right dual, Bora targeted one that ran after another crewmate, but she was out of ammo. She tossed it carelessly and used the left gun, missing the last few shots she had left. She noticed the ship’s Navigator running towards her, but when they were in front of Bora, they got shot and fell against the captain. One of the worst imagery she had ever seen, being an outlaw that didn't really care for the life of others, was being able to actually see the life being sucked out of her fellow crewmate, and the lack of a soul evident in the resulting blank face. Bora widened her eyes and wrapped her arms around their body, accidentally getting their blood on her hands. The blood of who plotted their space jumps, who joined the crew after she promised endless pillaging and an end to their miserable lives, who had a history Bora just watched pulverize into the fragments of a broken skull. After looking at her own hands, she was close to hyperventilating, so… she ran._
> 
> _“Minji! Can you hear me?!” She yelled to the communicator on her wrist. She kept running, breathless._
> 
> _“Bora?”_
> 
> _“Open the gate!” Another yell, desperate. As soon as she got to the Firehawk, Minji opened the gate and she jumped in. “Go, now!”_
> 
> _“What do you mean?!” Minji’s eyebrows raised, while cluelessly going to sit down on the pilot seat. She looked through the glass, towards the madness and massacre happening on ground._
> 
> _“I said go!” Bora was on her knees, the blood on her hands dripping down to the ship’s floor as she gasped for air._
> 
> _And Minji set off. Bora sat at another pilot seat and looked down to ground one last time, a single choked sob getting out at the sight of another crewmate chasing after the ship lifting off._

“I know.” Minji said, now hugging her friend tighter. “I know.” They stayed like that for a while, until Bora’s tears stopped, and all her muscles relaxed into the hug. Then, Minji separated and looked at her. "But we have each other, for now." She raised her fist while weakly smiling at her crewmate, who completed the fist bump. "I really need to step up my game in combat so I can go on raids with you."

After a sniff, Bora laughed loudly. "If you really think I'm going to let you go down there, you've lost your mind."

"What, you think I cannot do it?!" Minji faked offense and let out an exaggerated gasp, clutching her chest dramatically.

"It's not that, you idiot!" Bora laughed again, but as it died out, she looked back into space. _I can't lose you too._

Silence. Silence.

Black.

"Okay then, what about Blue Wolf?"

"Aaah, you really had to ruin the mood like that?" Bora jokingly hit Minji's shoulder and made her fall over, earning laughter from the latter.

"You're obsessed." Minji kept teasing.

"I'm not. If anything, she's the one who's obsessed as hell with me, that she shows up at every raid now." _Well… she used to._ "I hope she doesn't show up for the next one 'cause I really want those 800 million units... I'm angry at her. Yeah, she has quality gear and a nice blade, and maybe her incognito identity is impressive given all the shit she's been involved in. But she's dumb, and a dork… she's messy, and annoying, and, Minji… sometimes she initiates combat because she's bored. Pretty stupid if you ask me, right? Right…" She stopped to catch her breath; she hadn't noticed she started babbling without a single pause. "...why does she need to interfere with everything, why now, why when we’re about to get rich, and, unfortunately, ugh yes I admit it, why is she skilled…"

"Okay, now say it without smiling."

"Shut up, Minji. You're ugly!" Bora stood up in a blink and stormed off to the kitchen.

The sounds of a few cabinets and the fridge's door being slammed made Minji snort, and then she was unable to contain her loud laughter.

* * *

_**Lumos, Sonus** _

**Quadrant 4a**

“This is it.”

“Nothing stops the hit parade, money makers will be shaken down!” Minji said enthusiastically, half talking, half singing, and put a fist up.

Bora furrowed her eyebrows while smiling. “Is that a song?” She asked, hand on speed control and vision stuck on the landing zone.

“Yeah!”

“Your energy levels are probably surpassing mine today, and that’s saying a lot.” Bora’s eyes almost disappeared while chuckling. “Let me match, let me match.” She unbuckled her seat belts and stood on the seat, crouching down, dancing as if she were at a club.

Minji laughed, later pulled the speed handle and made the ship drastically slow down, making Bora fall over and hit the flight deck’s glass. “Buckle up dumbass.”

“Jerk!” Bora’s laugh was as loud as ever, her eyes completely disappearing this time.

The Firehawk approached Sonus’s orbit range, and as soon as Minji locked eyes on the exact spot she wanted to land, she pushed the speed controller handle forward and breached the atmosphere in a glimpse. When they neared the ground, Bora hastily looked for her gear while Minji maneuvered for a swift landing. “Alright, let’s get this over with.” _Fast._ Lastly, she strapped the N7 Valkyrie, stolen from Harper, on her back and grabbed her handgun prior to jumping out of the vehicle.

Unlike Verr, she didn’t know Lumos at all. She spent some time walking around, eyeing the street signs and the lack of affluent civilian movement; the city didn’t sound like anything, didn’t smell like anything but water evaporating from heat stroked cement, it felt empty. A few people here and there, but nothing like other cities she had stolen from. _Interesting. Less random casualties._ She peeked at the screen attached to her forearm, inspecting the map; she was close to her target. A few steps and turns, and she found herself in the periphery of her destination. Ahead of breaking in, she scouted her surroundings, consciously checking for potential threats, but unaware (or denying) that she silently wished to see the cause of her failed raids again, leaning against one of the walls.

It’s rather strange, at first, that there’s minimum to no security, but everything clicks when she breaks in and enters a hallway; a cluster of dead guards sprawled throughout the space, bold splatters of gore decorating the walls like Rauschenberg’s befuddled aerosol and emulsion: a messy massacre. A smile implicit, at once taken over by a sense of impatience, she rushed towards the room she suspected the Heirloom was in.

There she was.

Bora almost, nearly, beamed, but instead suppressed it and pointed her gun at Siyeon.

"Missed me?" Siyeon gave her a cheeky grin, waving the black box she held.

"Give me that." Bora attempted to sound threatening, all while actively intending to mask the relief she felt from seeing the other woman's face once again.

"Come and get it." Siyeon sent her a jest smile and winked before charging towards the window, jumping and shattering the glass as she went through. Bora gasped and raced to look down the edifice, only to see Siyeon trying to awkwardly stabilize herself in the air thanks to her jet boot attachments. Then, she landed with a few unbalanced steps and took off running.

"This idiot!" Bora got out the window and grappled the metal ladder a few inches beside it, climbed down and jumped off when the distance from the ground was prudent. She started running to chase her with all her strength. Siyeon looked back at Bora and let out a boisterous laugh when she saw her tailing her path. That made the shorter one smile devilishly before quickening her pace; they were enjoying this. A little too much, perhaps.

Still, signs of amusement would never be enough to create a bubble where they could play chasing games without worry. The entirety of Bora's hairs in her body raised as she sensed the ends of her leather cloak lunge forward, and ears responded to the high pitched breaking of the wind, thanks to the speed of a missile that flew by like a hawk diving with its prey in focus. Her eyes widened as she saw the hostile object nearing Siyeon. "EY!" Her desperation towered over her, coming out as a frantic scream to try and warn Siyeon. She then looked back; a huge squad of Annova troops stood there pointing their automatics at the two of them, one or two holding rocket launchers.

Siyeon thought they were still on the game and glanced back to mock Bora's slowness, only to be met by a missile blast that missed her leg by barely a few feet. "AH!" She yelled as the impact sent her body flying to the side, later crashing against the ground. The black box that contained the Heirloom was now nowhere to be found, lost somewhere in the smoke fog. If it weren't for the gloom the explosion created, the troops would've killed her already, but the clouded atmosphere gave her space to crawl away and seek temporary shelter.

Bora ran and dodged several bullets aimed at her. After she managed to hide behind a relatively far building, she notified Minji so she'd have the ship ready to flee as soon as she stepped in. Somewhat shallow breaths, a steady and strong grip around her gun, a loose finger over the trigger, every single muscle in her body engaged after the activation of her fight or flight response… She pressed her back against a metal dumpster as she focused on the menacing bundle of steps that approached, creating a mental sequence of her next movements; she listened closely until she could decipher the exact positions of the threats. With a nod, she leaped out of shelter apace and executed the rest of her movements as if they were automatic, with a stoic face of determination and focus. A stringent blast that cut through tinted glass to drag out intellectual hemoglobin, another’s forehead graced with yanked cascading red wine, and the last one receiving his last goodbye from a hole through his temple, all presaged by Bora’s N7 Eagle’s single shots. Satisfied, Bora blew upwards to make a strand of hair fall back into place; "You never lose, Kim Bora. You never lose."

With Minji replying with a 'ready', Bora continued running and scurried through the narrow intersections of the city, towards the small valley her ship landed in. The troops were still onto her heels, but she didn't look back. At least… not before noticing the sounds of a familiar heavy blaster pistol and a long metal blade clashing against the white armors of Annova.

There she was, the black and blue haired woman fighting for her life against a never ending spawn of troops, evading stray bullets, and attacking with an elegant and skillful aggression that made Bora unable to stop looking.

There she was, Bora in between her Firehawk and a highly worried Minji waving at her to come to the ship already, and the woman whose chances of surviving slimmed with each second. Bora could feel her own heartbeat, she could practically hear the pulses deep inside her ears, and her lungs seemed to defy a regular rhythm. In a matter of seconds, she looked at Minji, then at Siyeon, then back at Minji, and groaned. Her memories hit her once she saw the desperation in Minji's face; _not again_ , she thought, taking a deep breath, anticipating a decision that could definitely cost her literally everything.

Bora clenched her jaw before turning around, then sped towards the core of battle. She raised her handgun and decided to use the continuous shots this time, chewing through the bullets at a fast rate. A few troops knocked down, she kept cocking the gun as she continued emptying the clips onto the hostiles... until she ran out of ammo completely. “Hm.” She smirked, put the handgun in her thigh holster and reached the assault rifle strapped to her back. As soon as she grasped it with both hands, bursts of dual shots took down the various troops currently charging towards Siyeon. Since she was able to get close to Siyeon and the white armored targets, she decided to turn her assault rifle around, to slam the buttstock against whoever dared to come close.

"Come with me." She said, stern and clear, before quickly shooting the few hostiles currently attacking and others that came out of the dust cloud before them. After the lone ravager swung her bent arm forward and sliced the last troop's neck with the blade attached to her wrist, Bora grabbed Siyeon's hand and dragged her towards the Firehawk. She occasionally looked back to make sure no one targeted them.

"What are you doing?" Siyeon asked, significantly struggling to keep pace with the shorter woman due to her high level of exhaustion.

"Just…"

The air coming from the ship made any loose garments move frantically as they attempted to jump in.

"All in!?" Minji shouted from the pilot seat, to which Bora affirmed, and then the ship's entrance sealed.

They took Siyeon to her ship and dropped her off so she could retreat with her spacecraft, all in a rush considering they were being chased. They didn’t even get to say half of a goodbye before they lost complete contact; before Minji and Bora prepared to go through several jump points, later ending up lightyears away from Sonus.

Both of them tried to calm their unsteady breathing once they felt safe, close to melting onto their seats out of the fatigue the aftermath of adrenaline brought. They unbuckled their seat belts and rested, followed by the exchanging of grateful glances. Though, they didn’t expect to see the hex of a jump point open not too far away from them. Neither a black, blue and grey ship flying through.

“That’s Siyeon.” Bora stood up from her seat as her hopeful eyes fixated on the rushing ship, but her jaw dropped when she noticed the swarm of smaller vessels coming out of the opening. "Stealth mode Minji, stealth!" She sat back down as Minji typed rapidly on the holographic control panel, temporarily sinking the heat within the hull and making the ship's outer surface turn 'invisible'.

They stared in shock as the fleet continuously shot Siyeon's ship all at once, provoking an ironically visually pleasing light show that preceded an easily seen all the way to the Firehawk. Bora stood quickly this time, still mouth agape. She then walked close to the glass and put her hand on it, as if she could reach out to the broken trash the ship had turned to. Suddenly, she caught herself holding her breath, unable to process what she had just seen.

"Bora…"

"Wait." She stared at the hostile ships leaving through the hex, disappearing into another galaxy, and then focused again on the floating pieces of metal; destroyed, she was gone. "Wait…"

"We better go. We don't know if they'll come back."

"Give me a minute!" Bora let out in frustration, turning to Minji for a second before looking out again, now trying to breathe normally. Eyes closed, she rested her forehead against the crystal.

Yet, her moments of settling mourn got interrupted by something bumping against the glass of the flight deck. Or rather, someone. Bora gasped almost inaudibly and rushed to find her gear to get out and bring her in. Back inside, the shorter woman dragged Siyeon to the common room and put her down, later taking out her helmet to check if she was still breathing. “What the hell did you do?!” Bora knelt beside her. The smell of smoke invaded her nostrils, and she noticed the burnt parts of the lone ravager’s clothes, along with the symbiosis of blood, ash and sweat plastered all over the woman’s skin.

Siyeon opened her eyes slowly, smiled, and reached inside her pocket with evident difficulty. She grabbed Bora’s hand and placed the item on it with a closed fist. _The necklace._ Bora’s eyes widened, but then she closed them as she pinched the bridge of her nose with her fingers. "You are an idiot… you could've died."

"800 million units." Siyeon said in a cheery manner, but her voice was a little weak.

"I can't believe you." Bora opened her eyes, but started to shake her head. Though, a hint of the tint of a smile was beginning to creep through her features.

* * *

A shower and a set of new clothes later, Siyeon sat on the floor of the common room, across from Bora, drinking water and looking around the vessel. She is quick to notice the flower room, brightness both in light and color, encompassing plants of all kinds in capsules. “So this is what you do with the plants you take from the planets you steal from?”

“...when have you seen me do that?” Bora furrowed her eyebrows, not able to recall a time when she foraged flowers without being alone.

Siyeon choked on a sip of water instead of answering, and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “...I think I saw you once. It was odd, that’s all.”

“Ah,” Bora shifted on her seat and faced the room. “...I bring them for Minji.” She let her eyes travel from flower to flower, consequently receiving a flow of the memories each one of them stored, as well as their implicit connections to the life they lost and the desires of what they long for the most. “They remind her of her home. And they keep her company. It’s the least I can do for her…” She stood up, grabbed both cups of water and put them aside, then rested on the wall while looking straight into the water tank that held algae. “I guess I ride on the adrenaline of almost losing my life for thievery everyday, and… I don’t know, it’s kind of a trance. Gets me busy, and I have to admit it’s fun. But she stays here most of the time, maintaining the ship, listening to songs from Earth… tch.” Bora looked down and smiled.

“Why doesn’t she… right, you work alone.” Siyeon stopped herself mid sentence, remembering that embarrassing bar incident.

“Look, I’m an asshole.” Bora exhaled loudly before cracking a mocking smile. “I’m sure you can relate.”

Siyeon scoffed and couldn’t contain a short laugh.

“I’d rather die alone out there, as the asshole I am, than live knowing that I allowed the circumstances for the death of the only good person I’ve ever met, and the only friend I’ve ever had.” _Fuck, I overshared._ A sigh, a memory lane back to the same mistake that’s been bothering her for the longest time. “I’m… not good with teamwork. It’s better if I just die alone, if it gets to that.”

“Well,” Siyeon walked over and rested her back against the wall, beside Bora, “...I only got out of there alive because of you, so… maybe not that much of an asshole. It’s safe to say I have more evil in me.”

The shorter woman laughed with a sound close to ‘k’ and raised her eyebrows. “You wish. I have a reputation for a reason.” She turned towards Siyeon with a smile still lingering in her eyes.

Siyeon did the same, but moved a little closer. “So, is it time to compare kill counts or did I read the room wrong...?”

Bora liked to think that she hated how Siyeon’s stupid comments never failed to get a laugh out of her, not mattering how the latter loved to make her flare up. In between laughs she somehow tried to restrain, a new found way to challenge the taller one arose; "Why were you after the batteries that time if you didn't even know what they were?"

Siyeon let out a brief exhale that morphed into a smile, and raised an eyebrow.

"Kim Bora, I'm off to Tzov." Minji interrupted, making both of them jump away from each other. She started gathering her stuff, and then looked at them, expectant, unaware that she had meddled into something.

"Yeah, yeah, alright." Bora said quickly, eyes landing on Minji's for an ephemeral reluctant gaze; one cautious to not let anything slip out in the spotlight of a crewmate that knew her too well after so many years.

Minji almost laughed in her face, but contained it by stretching and pressing her lips to a straight line. "Don't leave the 5e quadrant. See you in a few."

As they both focused on Minji leaving, and then the Firehawk's pod flying away, the rising tension melted into the swift movement of Siyeon's hand. The taller woman grabbed Bora's forearm and pulled her in her direction, her intense eyes never once leaving the latter's face.

Maybe Bora let out a close to inaudible gasp, but not even herself noticed. Ready to retaliate, her usual hostility arose; "You didn't answer my question…"

She would've continued her protest, but her mouth betrayed her by staying slightly agape, as she finally focused on Siyeon's face, on her black messy layered hair and the renegade strands that covered small parts of her face, on her entrancing eyes that didn't leave space for doubts about determination, her unmoving expression that exuded signs of a decision taken long ago…

Her confidence wasn't annoying anymore, but rather… enchanting.

And she got impatient in a matter of seconds; curious, tired of the intrigue, all her senses prompting her to move forward. Before Siyeon could make a move, Bora was already chasing the latter’s lips with her own. Movement was scarce before they separated, and Bora stared at Siyeon as if she couldn't believe what she had done just now. Though, Siyeon left her no time to process her past actions, since she captured Bora's lips again in an instant.

From short to long kisses, Siyeon's hand leaving Bora's forearm to grasp the side of her torso instead, progressively pulling her a little closer… digits travelling each other's bodies with tender but needy traces, Bora's hands marking a path from Siyeon's waist, to her chest, to her neck. Slowness was losing prevalence; after some time full of exploratory kisses, after Siyeon licked Bora's bottom lip and carefully caught it between her teeth, shame nor meekness didn't cross their minds again.

Ravenous, eager. Entrancing. A certain aggressiveness peeked in progress, hands in her hair, a hand sliding down to pull and raise a thigh, Siyeon wasted not a single second. She pushed Bora against the wall as the latter hooked her thigh around Siyeon’s hip, and the sound of her body bumping against the metal masked the sounds of a stranger rummaging through the ship’s drawers. Bora bit Siyeon’s lip with a force she probably didn’t calculate very well, which earned a groan from the lone ravager, but the rate of attraction didn’t let her pay attention to the blood coming out.

They got lost in their own bubble for a while, though it blew up once they heard a wrench hitting the ground in a distance. Both of their sympathetic nervous systems activated; they separated from each other and acquired an instant tense offensive stance. “Minji?” Bora called out, slowly walking towards where the sound was heard from.

It wasn’t Minji.

“Who are you?” Bora questioned. _Did Minji bring a woman home, hide her from me, and forget…?_

The dark silver haired woman stood up in a flash (then Bora realized that she was taller than her and Siyeon), stared at both of them, and then ran with the necklace in hand.

“Hey!” Siyeon exclaimed and went after her, but when she was able to get close enough, the stranger had put on a helmet, entered the pod cavity and pushed the button to get expelled from the Firehawk.

“What the hell!” Bora rushed to the fight deck and looked out the glass, watching how the woman used her boot jets to fly towards a ship that was too familiar. She searched for the other ship’s fight deck, and noticed three people sitting there waiting for the silver haired woman. Once she got in, one of them, who had pink hair, took hold of the Heirloom and raised it, waving it in the air while sticking out her tongue in a mocking smile. Later, the ship bolted away and went through a jump point, disappearing and leaving no trace.

Bora and Siyeon stood there with mouths wide open, stunned, and looked at each other.

The shorter woman huffed. “That was the Pyroraptor. That was my ship!”

**Author's Note:**

> If you made it this far, thank you for reading. What did you think or feel? I'd love to hear your feedback.
> 
> Press F for Siyeon's ship, and Bora's lost N7 Eagle dual.
> 
> The playlist I listened to while writing, if you're interested:  
> https://open.spotify.com/user/sooaholic/playlist/3YHKRBxF2ZLZ5Y4NPSbYM6  
> The song Jibo were listening to was 'Gypsy'. Alright, I'm going.


End file.
